Progression · after Level 5

Top-up routes after a Level 5 diploma

Finishing Level 5 puts 240 credits across Levels 4 and 5 on your transcript. That is the credit position of a student ending the second year of a three-year degree, and three doors open from it. This page sets out each one, who holds the key, and what to check before you count on it.

Your credit position, in numbers

Credit position at each stage of a bachelor's-equivalent route
Stage	RQF level	Credits at this stage	Cumulative	Degree-year equivalence
Level 4 Diploma (or Level 4 stage of an Extended Diploma)	4	120	120	Year 1
Level 5 Diploma (or Level 5 stage)	5	120	240	Year 2
Level 6 Diploma or university final-year top-up	6	120	360	Year 3 (honours degree total)

An honours degree in the UK totals 360 credits; the QAA framework expects at least 90 of them at Level 6 (QAA Higher Education Credit Framework). A Level 5 diploma supplies the first 240; it does not supply a degree.

Three routes from 240 credits

Route 1

A Level 6 diploma from the same awarding body

OTHM and Qualifi both publish Level 6 diplomas in most of the sectors on this site. Entry is normally the Level 5 diploma in a related subject, so the decision sits with the delivering centre rather than a university. The result is a 360-credit position across Levels 4 to 6: a regulated Level 6 qualification, not a bachelor's degree.

Route 2

Final-year entry at a university

Many UK universities admit holders of regulated Level 5 diplomas into the final year of a related degree, often called a top-up year. The decision is the university's: it may ask for particular unit coverage, a personal statement, an interview or evidence of English. Success gives a bachelor's degree from that university.

Route 3

Employment, then study later

Some learners stop at Level 5, take a promotion or a new role, and return to Level 6 later. Credits do not expire on the Ofqual register, though a receiving university may set its own limit on how old prior learning can be. Keep your certificate and unit transcript.

What universities tend to ask

There is no national rule that obliges a university to accept a Level 5 diploma for final-year entry. Each one publishes its own admissions policy, and the same qualification can be accepted by one department and declined by another in the same institution. The recurring conditions we see in those policies are:

Subject match. The Level 5 units must map onto the degree's first two years closely enough that the final year makes sense. A business diploma into a business top-up is straightforward; into a finance degree with heavy quantitative modules, less so.
Regulated status. The diploma must be on the Ofqual register at Level 5 with the stated credit value, which every programme on this site is.
Unit transcript. Admissions tutors want the unit titles and credits, not just the certificate. Both awarding bodies issue one.
English language. Applicants educated outside English-speaking systems are usually asked for IELTS 6.0 to 6.5 or an accepted equivalent.
Recency. Some universities cap prior learning at five or so years.

We do not list partner universities on this site. If London School of Planning and Management (LSPM) tells us it has signed a written progression agreement, the agreement's date and conditions will be published here; until then, the right step is to contact the admissions office of the university you have in mind and ask about "advanced standing" or "direct entry to year three" with a regulated Level 5 diploma.

Image slot: a Level 5 unit transcript beside a degree module map, related units connected

The Level 6 diploma route in more detail

A Level 6 diploma is the awarding-body route: the same assignment-based model, the same centre, and 120 more credits at the level of a degree's final year. It suits people who want to keep studying alongside work without a university application cycle, and people who intend to move on to a Level 7 diploma afterwards. What it does not do is carry the word "degree" or the university's name. Employers and professional bodies vary in how they treat it, so ask the ones that matter to you before choosing it over a university top-up.

If your question is really whether a Level 6 diploma counts as a degree, and how top-up admissions work from the university's side, our sibling site level6diploma.org is written for exactly that decision.

Before you rely on any of this

Name the destinationDecide whether you are aiming at a Level 6 diploma, a specific university, or a job. The best Level 5 programme differs for each.
Check the receiving side firstRead the target university's admissions policy for Level 5 entrants, or the Level 6 diploma's entry criteria, before you enrol at Level 5.
Match the unitsCompare the Level 5 unit list against the destination's requirements. The compare tool puts two unit counts side by side; the programme pages have the titles.
Keep the paperworkCertificate, unit transcript and the specification PDF. Universities ask for all three.

Not sure which credit value you need?

Tell us your highest qualification and we will say which of the 120-credit Diploma and the 240-credit Extended Diploma LSPM's entry criteria open to you, and how to start the application.

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